1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recovering minerals from the bottom of the water, in particular manganese nodules from the ocean floor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Manganese nodules exist in a muddy surface layer on the bottom of the deep sea and the size of the nodules varries from a pebble size to a first size. As the manganese nodules are found in the depth of several thousands meters from the surface of the sea, it is the most efficient that the manganese nodules are continuously transported to a mining ship to recover them. There has been proposed a continuous transportation method wherein a stream of the sea water is formed in a pipe toward the surface of the sea and minerals are transported together with this stream.
However, it requires a considerable time to bring down the recovering apparatus in the deep bottom of the water and to pull up it therefrom. Therefore, when the apparatus gets out of order in the water, the recovering time is greatly wasted because the apparatus must be pulled up and then brought down again.